Automatic automobile gate



Aug. 17 1926.

A. J. BARNHART AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE GATE Filed June 19 2924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 17 1926.

A. J. BARNHART AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE GATE 2 Shets-Shet 2 Filed June "19, 1.924

:fild

, I. I! w A y r f G i z j J 0 0 %.oz oi o o o o VVMQ Q Q VWVQ Q QMQQV Patented Aug. 17, 1926.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. BABNHART, OF PLACENTIA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO DANIEL T. BANKS, OF SAN ANGELO, TEXAS.

AUTOMATIC AUTOMOBILE GATE.

Application filed June 19, 1924. Serial No. 720,950.

This invention is an automatic motor vehicles.

An object is to make a gate in a line of fencing across a road that will be opened by a passing motor vehicle and will close after the vehicle passes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a gate hinged at one side with spring supported bumper boards on opposite sides of the gate,'the bumper boards being positioned 'to engage both the front wheels of an automobile to bump the gate open and provide automatic means for returning the gate to its normal position.

In my gate I provide a curved track at the upper end of the gate post with a de-- pression in the position the gate occupies when closed. The gate is hinged to the post and has a roller connected to the top rail running on the track. The bumper. boards are hinged to the gate adjacent the pivotal end and are spaced apart by springs at the far end. The boards are thus positioned so that the far end of the board from the hinge engages the far tire of an automobile in passing through the gate and the near tire subsequently engages the bumper board, giving the gate an additional push to force it p Other objects and advantages will appear from the drawings and specification.

The drawings illustrate the construction and operation of anautomatic gate embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a road way,

gate for a line of fencing, and the automatic gate about to be opened by a, motor vehicle, the

view being taken looking downwardly as indicated by the arrow 1 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the gate and fencing as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. 1.

' Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4' is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and looking downwardly as indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary tion on the line 55 of downwardly as indicated by the arrows.

The details of construction and operation shown in =the drawingsare as follows:

The road wa 1 may be any sort of a road over whic motor vehicles may pass horizontal sec- Fig. 2 and looking i an extension fence section 27 1s secured to back and'forth, and usually will be a comparatlvely narrow country road. The line of fencing crossing the road consists of sections 2 and 3 terminatin at posts 4 and 5,

the posts 4 and 5 being 0 ose to the sides of the road way 1. The post 4 has an extenthe ground surface 12 support a vertical hinge pin 13 in vertical alinement with the hinge pin 9 and of substantially the same length. The bracket 11 may be formed by bending the material or rod forming the hinge pin 13 to right angles and inserting the bent portion through the post.

The upper gate bar is formed of pipe and an opening is bored through the end of the pipe and the hinge pin 9 inserted through the opening. In a like manner, the lower gate bar 15 has an opening bored throagh its end .and the hinge pin. 13 inserted through the opening. The bars 14 and 15 are connected by vertical bars 16, 17 and'18, and wire netting 19 is attached to the bars 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Diagonal cross braces 20 and 21 are inserted between the bars 14 and 15 to hold the gate from sagging. A grooved pulley 22 is loosely mounted upon the bar 14 a short distance outside of the bar 16 and a double inclined track 23 is fixed to the 0st 4 with its lowest point 24 in line with t e posts 4 and 5, and the pulley 22 runs upon the track 23 so that when the gate is free the pulley 22 will run from either direction to the point 24 and close the gate by swinging the gate into line with ion the gate is released the gate will sw/ing closed by gravity. The track .23 islconnected to the post 4 by braces 25 and 26 and the inner face of the post 4 and extends in-- wardly under the track 23 and remains rigid when the gate is swung.

A guy rod-28 connects the upper part of the post 4 to a second post 29 to hold the post 4 upright against the-weight of the gate. Bumpers 30 and 31 are connected to fittings 32 by hinge constructions 33 and 34 and the fittings 32 are rigidly mounted upon the vertical bar 16 near its lower end. The bumpers 30 and 31 are on opposite sides of the gate and extend substantially the entire length of the gate at the proper level to be engaged by the extreme forward portions of the motor vehicle wheels or tires 35 and 36. Plates 37' and 38 are clamped against the bar 18 by bolts 39. Expansion bumper springs 40 and 41 are secured to the inner faces of the bumpers 30 and 31 by staples 42 and 43 and the inner ends of the springs are looped around the. bolts 39 under the nuts so that the tensions of the springs 40 and 41 are exerted to swing the bumpers 30 and 31 outwardly from the gate. Suspension cables 44 and 45 are connected to the bar 18 near its upper end and connected to the swinging ends of the bumpers 30 and 31 to hold the bumpers from sagging.

When a motor vehicle 46 approaches the gate, the front wheels 35 and 36 will strike the near one of the bumpers 30 and 31 with suflicient force to swing the gate wide open to approximately the dotted line position 47, and if the motor vehicle moves at a reasonable speed the vehicle will pass the zone of the swinging gate before the gate returns to closed position, but if the gate does not swing open far enough, due to a lack of force from the motor vehicle, the adjacent bumperwill-drag along the running board 'or other parts of the side of the vehicle.

- Qbviously the gate will operate for a vehicle going one Way as well as the other way and will always be in-closed position unless forcibl opened or held open.

The umpers may be of any desired width up and down an located at any desired height as required to serve the purpose of the motor vehicles such as are apt to travel the road.

Thus I have produced an automatic gatefor motor vehicles comprising a gate structure mounted to automatically swing closed from both directions, and bumpers on the gate structure to be hit by the passing motor vehicles.

From the description it will be seen that when an automobile approaches the gate as shown in Fig. 1, the far tire 35 engages the bumper board adjacent its outer end and in .the forward movement of the car bothtires will be in engagement with the bumper and the inner tire 36, thus giving the gate an additional bump to force it open.

It will be noted in Fig. 1, that stop posts 50 are placed off the roadway on opposite sides of the fence to engage the bumper bars when the gate is forced open and thus compress one of the springs to give the gate an additional impulse in closing. The parts are so proportioned that a car traveling at a reasonable speed may strike the gate, bump it open and be absolutely clear of the gate before it returns to its normal closed position.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. An automatic gate comprising in combination a post, a lower fixed hin e, a gate having a top bar, a grooved whee rotating on the bar, a curved track secured to the post having a central depressed portion and elevated end portions; a lower bar on the gate connected to the lower hinge on the post, and a fixed fence section between the post and the depressed portion of the track.

2. An automatic gate, comprising in combination a pivotal post, a pair of braces attached thereto at its upper end and extending downwardly on each side, a track having a semi-circular path with the lower point in the center, connected to said braces, a pair of thrust braces connected to the track and attached to the post at a position below the track, a pair of hinge pins secured to the post, a gate swinging on .said pins and a roller connected to the gate running on the track,

' 3.. An automatic gate as claimed in claim 2, having a stationary fencing attached to the post below the track.

4. In an automatic gate, a gate structure comprising a post, a pair of hinges, a gate swinging thereon, having a top, a bottom bar, opposite vertical end bars, an intermediate vertical bar, a strap-like fitting connected to the vertical bar nearest the hinged end,

a. pair of hinges connected thereto, a pair of bumper boards attached to the hinges, positioned to extend substantially across the major portion ofthe gate and on a level to be engaged by the wheels of an automobile, a pair of coil springs positioned between the bumper boards and the intermediate vertical bar, and suspension cables connected between the bumper boards ,and the gate.

5. In an automatic gate as claimed in claim 4, having in addition a roller operatively connected to the gate, a curved track supported by the post, having its central portion lowest and a fixed fence section below'the track connected to the post.

6. An' automatic gate comprising in combination a post, a gate pivotally connected thereto, a curved track attached to the post having its central portion lowest, a. roller operatively connected to the gate running on said track, a pair of bumper boards on the major portion of the gate and on a level the gate is thrown wide open and compress the springs to give the gate an initial movement to its normal position.

7. An automatic gate having a post, a,

curved track extending outwardly from the post over a roadway, a gate pivotall'y connected to thepost, having a roller operated on said track, the lowest portion of the track being in alinement with the normal closed position of the gate, a bumper board on each side of the gate extending across the roadway, positioned to engage the v Wheels of a vehicle, springs between the bumper board and the gate adapted to hold the outer portion of the bumper board further away from the gate than the portion adjacent the post,

and a fixed fence section attached to the v post underneath" the track.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ANDREW J. BARNHART. 

